I’ve actually been surprised Sears has lasted as long as it has. Except for tools (which probably is what keeps it afloat) everything else is sub-par quality (selling the same crap they do in K-Mart) the stores always seem empty and many times they occupy very high rent-space.

Agreed! It’s really simple. Don’t rip the people off and give good customer service. Here’s another one, It’s easier to make a faster nickel than a long dime. Just ask Champ’s or Rally’s. The entire industry laughed at and mocked the dollar menu. So that whole “economy” and other bs won’t fly. This is what they encountered when they introduced the dollar menu and for years they changed this thinking when “they” said it will not work.

Here in northern NJ the black market is expanding so quickly (due to the ongoing invasion by illegal aliens) that these stores can’t compete. The remaining Euro-Americans can’t stand being around the members of the permanent underclass they have to deal with to visit said stores.

The Amazon effect coupled with poor service of the retailer. In ten years Amazon or operations like it will dominate the retail market. Ops like Home Depot will survive because some stuff you need now, same thing with Staples, but big purchase appliances,electrics, computers will all be from an Amazon type op. Exceptions exist. In the NYC area P.C. Richard prospers because of competitive pricing, excellent support, and sales guys who are old school. Here on L.I we also have a couple of independent retailers who prosper for the same reasons.

One mall nearby actually has a tattoo parlor in it, while another one (the Xanadu mall next to Giants Stadium) was completed a few years ago (complete with indoor ski slop) and NEVER OPENED. It is eerie; you are standing outside this giant building, and it simply never opened. That said more to me about the economy than any politician or economist (from either party) ever could. I believe the state of NJ is now intervening to get something going in the vacant mall because in one year the whole world is going to see this giant monstrosity next to the stadium during the SUPER BOWL.

A local Mall has been a ghost town for years and has lost even more productive stores over the last 4 years. There’s a Pennys on one end and a Sears on the other with a lot of vacant slots in between - even Chik-Filet closed up last year. It looks like Wal-Mart is going to take up a big chunk of it with a new super store and it might breathe some life into the remaining merchants by getting some folks (other than those who use it as a walking track) into the facility. I know one guy who had a coffee/pastry shop and had to move out because they wanted too much for rent (trying to soak remaining businesses to make up for all the empty places). He moved back in recently because the other location is suffering the same economic woes and the Mall lowered its rates to try to keep what merchants it has. He’s about to fold for lack of business. I was in the Mall last week (getting over Flu and wanted a climate-controlled place to walk in) and even at 2 PM it was a ghost town.

“I believe the state of NJ is now intervening to get something going in the vacant mall because in one year the whole world is going to see this giant monstrosity next to the stadium during the SUPER BOWL.”

On a side-note: how cool would it be for that Super Bowl to be the 2 Manning brothers facing each other, a segue from the brother vs. brother on the sidelines Super Bowl of this year

I’ve found that virtually everything I want to buy at Radio Shack that differentiates it from Walmart has been condensed into a couple of poorly organized file cabinets in the back of the store, the contents of which appear to be mysterious oddities to the store clerks.

And they insist on collecting more information about me in order to checkout than the local gun shop. I can understand the need to market, but sometimes you want to just get in and get out, especially when you’re paying cash for something that costs less than $2.

Now I just buy online unless two exceedingly rare events occur - I absolutely need something right away, and Radio Shack actually has it in stock.

The only one I really like is Barnes and Noble, even though it is a lefty outfit. They can’t control all the content, and they do sell conservative authors, although it pains them. I love it when I plop a Coulter, Levin or Steyn book at the checkout.... lol

well electronics right now is so complicated. I went in to Radio Shack for earphones for new smart TV. They quickly sold me a pair for $100. I got it home and couldn’t hook up the charger to the “audio out” because the “audio out” was “optical/digital” and the earphones were “analog”.

Took them back and they wanted to sell me $50 more of adapters and cords and I was too upset and just said, “here, take them back” which they did.

Further research on this issue indicates I am not the only one who can’t find a set of earphones to hook up to the silly “smart” TV.

I bought a Kenmore Elite stand mixer for $179 at Christmas, got it home and a screw fell out immediately. And was stripped so I couldn’t screw it back in. So took the dumb thing back and got a KitchenAid which I guess I should have done to begin with.

The only times I’ve ever had to go into a Radio Shack in the past 15 years, I WISH they would have done that...everything I needed was behind the counter or in a display case; cordless phone batteries, universal plug and tip when a wallwart shattered, etc. Everything else is so overpriced it’s cheaper to get it at Walmart or the dollar store, and usually works just as well.

29
posted on 02/02/2013 7:47:48 AM PST
by Fire_on_High
(RIP City of Heroes and Paragon Studios, victim of the Obamaconomy.)

The last time I went to Radio Shack was to get small fuse for my garage door opener. The clerk pointed me toward a stand with about 30 drawers and said “I know there’s one in there if you can find it.” I found it.

But I don’t understand how they can stay in business selling fuses. I’ll bet the cost of paper receipts on most of their purchases cost more than the item being purchased.

33
posted on 02/02/2013 7:52:03 AM PST
by Terry Mross
(Who long before America is no more?)

Thanks to the economic situation coupled with the recent graduation of low end H.S. students that know nothing of value and character is going to sink other clothing and food retailer chains as well...

Of course there are adults that are employees there - supervisors and others - but the core work force out young undereducated to past standard graduates that think more about tweeting than they do about churning out a competitive product...this is society as it grows from what was a minority 30 yrs ago - to what it has become today as a direct product of our educational, entertainment, and lack values throughout society in the US....

Took a job last year with Sears (NJ) out of desperation after the company I was with for 15 years went belly up. It was one of their Home Appliance showrooms. They seemed to want to give good service, and expected a great amount of work of us for the possibility of big sales. As much as they had good intentions, we as salespeople still had to deal with Sears customer service, and got the runaround just as much as the poor customer. 3 different agents, 3 different answers, and most often none of them were correct. You had to pray as a salesperson that things went right after the customer placed the order. If things didn’t go textbook, the poor customer was put through hell. Basically, no ability for them to think outside the box. Diversity seemed to be their biggest concern, not the quality of the service. Pure torture as a commissioned associate, as when Sears service and installation caused the customer to cancel their order out of frustration, it came back out of my commission check. I’m so thankful I was able to get out of there and started a great job in Dec.

It pains me to see Sears go down the crapper. I've tried to remain a loyal Sears customer ever since I turned a wrench in their automotive department during college over 20 years ago. They just can't (or won't) compete anymore. Case in point, I'm currently in the market for a second full-size refrigerator to replace the cheap mini-fridge in my garage that crapped out last week. Sears is not only more expensive (by $50-100 depending on the cubic feet) than both Lowes and Home Depot but they want to charge me $59 to deliver the new fridge and another $10 to haul away the old one. Lowes and HD will do both for free!

The last time I went to Radio Shack was to get small fuse for my garage door opener. The clerk pointed me toward a stand with about 30 drawers and said I know theres one in there if you can find it. I found it.

Lucky you. I went to Radio Shack to replace a 1/2 amp slo-blo fuse for a guitar amplifier that blew out. They didn't have it and I had to order it online (where countless vendors carried it).

If you can't get a simple fuse at Radio Shack, what good are they for?

And they insist on collecting more information about me in order to checkout than the local gun shop.

Wow, still nothing has changed.

My last encounter with Radio Shaft was over 15 years ago, maybe closer to 20. I needed a foreign adapter plug for some audio/video cord. RS was my last resort even then, but the item was not carried anywhere else in the area.

I was expecting annoying and aggressive service based on my occasional visits over many years and in different stores (and states), but it had been a few years since I had been in one because of these bad memories. I had hoped that RS really wasn't as horrid as I had remembered.

Wrong. The problem *was* systemic and the obnoxious sales clerk was operating on a whole new level of pushiness and snark. For a $3 cash sale he sure didn't wan't to take no for an answer when demanding personal info. Geez if I hadn't checked around to every other store first I would have walked out, but OTOH the arrogant punk needed to be put in his place.

He went from feigned politeness to snippy insistence to playing victim, saying that management expected him to obtain the info or it would reflect poorly on his performance. ? Seriously? I mean lol the little sh!t was doing pretty "well" on his own. Then he moved on to drama queen mode with a resigned huff of hostility and exasperation as he rang up the sale. Hey all I said was "No" (repeatedly), and that "This is a cash sale". :)

It was truly bizarre but my theory was that he was exactly the kind of employee management wanted, so why complain. I just decided never to go back.

44
posted on 02/02/2013 8:37:47 AM PST
by Ezekiel
(The Obama-nation began with the Inauguration of Desolation.)

Well, they probably felt they needed one there because it is in a county that has Blue Laws and they wanted to exempt it); currently NYC shoppers (to avoid the higher NY/NYC taxes) have to drive further on Sundays to reach a mall.

Officials admitted after it failed to open that it was really for foreign NYC tourists, and since much of that tourism dried up the anchors were only committing to using the minimum space allowed under their agreements. Americans weren’t supposed to be shopping there; they were supposed to be serving meals and cleaning toilets there.

“On a side-note: how cool would it be for that Super Bowl to be the 2 Manning brothers facing each other, a segue from the brother vs. brother on the sidelines Super Bowl of this year”

That would be great; I wouldn’t mind seeing Eli do the same job on Peyton that he did on Brady (twice). There is also a possibility (if they still have their jobs) of the fat brothers that manage the Cowboys and Jets facing each other (or the Giants and Jets facing each other in what is supposed to be the home stadium of both). Now we’re really fantasizing, because the Jets suck so badly anyway; they won once (before I was born), then during my lifetime the Giants won four and lost one.

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